stilt or dry foot?

I have played with clay for the last 20 years and have recently been blessed with enough space to set up my own pottery studio. I am getting some work ready for a show, and I am trying out some new things. One of these is a series of slab plates. They do not have a footring. I have bisque fired them, and am now ready to glaze. I am wanting to glaze the bottoms too, and am not sure how to proceed. Do I rub them over sandpaper and dryfoot the high spots, or do I stilt them? I am firing to cone 6, and am not sure if I will have problems with warping if I stilt. Any thoughts for potters more experienced than me on this?

You can use pins as I do when I fire my tiles. I place them about every 2 inches, staggering them to give even lift under the tile. They are a major help and more consistent than coils. I get them from SPS. I can't find them on their site, but they are about $2/doz. I can shoot a photo from my studio tomorrow. I think this is def Italy what will work for you.

I want to put a stamped design on the inside of the plate, and I've been thinking about how to figure out the foot. I worry that a dry foot on a slab plate might be too much bare clay, that it might scratch the table, or that people won't buy them.I've also been considering adding on an extruded foot once they're leather hard, but I'm worried that might take entirely too much time.I'll keep thinking and looking for ideas, but if you come across anything good, I'd love to hear about it!thanksJimena

You will experience slumping and distortion using props on flat ware at ^6. I have to suggest using wax on the base to make a neat delineation between glaze and body. I've read of folks who add on thrown foot rings to ware before it becomes too green. Frankly, and I know you haven't commented on this particular issue, why not really get to grips with throwing and use enough clay and turn a generous and aesthetically pleasing foot ring which will enhance your work? Have a look online at work and sort this thinking out.

My technique for flat pieces is to have glued on a piece of foam to a bat. I wet the bat and gently swipe the bisqued base over foam to remove glaze. I cannot comment on your glazing practices, thickness etc., but wiping base, foot ring, waxing foot ring are all useful tools. I will end this comment by saying that I sprinkle alumina hydrate (neat) on my kiln shelves to about 1/8" and stack shelving horizontal on props, so I don't have to clear off alumina after each firing.

Now, having said all above, I will offer that when I used to fire at ^8/9 (1252 d. centigrade + 30" soak) oxidation I propped edges of big slab plates and pedestal pots to keep them from slumping. I was successful.

I want to put a stamped design on the inside of the plate, and I've been thinking about how to figure out the foot. I worry that a dry foot on a slab plate might be too much bare clay, that it might scratch the table, or that people won't buy them.I've also been considering adding on an extruded foot once they're leather hard, but I'm worried that might take entirely too much time.I'll keep thinking and looking for ideas, but if you come across anything good, I'd love to hear about it!thanksJimena

I am tesing a couple of things in the kiln as we speak, so I will let you know. I don't like dy footing the whole bottom, as I had problems with dunting in the microwave with that. Not that everything has to be microwave safe, but it would be nice. Update after the kiln cools in a couple of days!

For my platters and plates that are not glazed on the bottom, after the glaze firing I wet-sand the unglazed bottom using a 100 or 200 grit diamond sanding block . . . gives a nice finished feel. Actually, I wet-sand the bottoms of all my work -- including those with foot rings -- to remove kiln wash "cling-ons" and to give it a smooth finish. Only takes 15 to 20 seconds using the old "wax on/wax off" method. I get my pads from a place called Toolocity http://www.toolocity...and-pads-2.aspx

bciskepottery,
Thanks for that link. I love the thin pads. I have previously cut small pieces off the thicker pads to get into hard to reach areas. I never have seen those thin pads before. Thanks for that info.
Marcia

So of course, out of curiosity, I had to try at least one plate on stilts. The rest were dry footed. I have many more to fire, so one plate was worth testing. Surprisingly, it turned out just fine! However, these plates are not very heavy or large (I tested a small plate, maybe 6"x10") and put it on 3 straight pin stilts (about 3" bars with 8 or 10 pins, very short). They didn't even stick, again I was surprised but pleased. The glaze I used on the bottom is Coyote Charcoal Satin, which doesn't move. Also no warping noted. I wish I would have had better luck with the bead rack, though, which did not like the heat (and weight I had on it) so much. It's a big ball of glazey mess. Win some, lose some:P

I want to put a stamped design on the inside of the plate, and I've been thinking about how to figure out the foot. I worry that a dry foot on a slab plate might be too much bare clay, that it might scratch the table, or that people won't buy them.I've also been considering adding on an extruded foot once they're leather hard, but I'm worried that might take entirely too much time.I'll keep thinking and looking for ideas, but if you come across anything good, I'd love to hear about it!thanksJimena

Seems like to me that the dropping technique would really compress the base and corners of the platter. This would give it greater resistance to cracking. I used course grog under platters of this size in order to allow for movement in the kiln during expansion/contraction and I always dry footed the pots. I have been thinking of a series of octagon platters using molding-this technique makes me want to push the idea.

Pres, if you give it a try, I'd love to hear about it. I'm still thinking that I'd love to have a foot, rather than dryfoot, so it you experiment with that, maybe you could share some of your process.
I won't have access to my studio until February, and I'm itching to try stuff out!

Pres, if you give it a try, I'd love to hear about it. I'm still thinking that I'd love to have a foot, rather than dryfoot, so it you experiment with that, maybe you could share some of your process. I won't have access to my studio until February, and I'm itching to try stuff out!

An extruded, molded or cut foot ring would work well under this sort of thing, but I would probably use an inner and outer ring as I do on wheel thrown plates >9"